Realizations from a Scrapbook
by Adlet
Summary: After two weeks of peace after the War Against Giygas, Ness decides to take a second look at the photo album the Photography Man had given to him. One picture he finds makes him think, and he realizes what he needs to do...
1. Chapter One

**First shipping fic! Whoo!  
I never write in this genre,** **so I feel a bit nervous about writing it...  
But EarthBound needs more fics, so here I am!**

**Please review, I need to have feedback for my first attempt at this type of writing!**

* * *

It was a warm September morning. The frost had freshly melted from the strands from the golden grasses of autumn. Light glimmered from the tips of the fur-like meadows within the town of Onett.

The daybreak of the day had marked the first two weeks since the War Against Giygas had ceased.

The day that four very brave children had saved the world itself.

Three boys and a girl...

Currently, one of the four heroes was lying lazily on his cream colored sofa in the first room of his house. He still felt the fatigue of the whole ordeal, so his mother had decided on allowing him a month's extra rest from school.

Ness obviously wasn't complaining.

His mother was out running errands and told the thirteen-year-old to watch his little sister while she was out. Why couldn't have she just taken Tracey with her? He really didn't know.

The sun began to filter through the window positioned behind the couch, and while the blue curtains appeared to glow like the sky, the furniture cast a shadow onto Ness's face. The boy grumbled as he pulled himself up to a sitting position.

He glanced at one arm of the chair and saw a scrapbook that he had got familiar with over the past couple of weeks. He hadn't opened in over a week, so he decided to give it another go.

The very first page that was next to a note on the left hand side (most likely written by the Photographer himself) showed a photo of himself on his first day of his adventure. He couldn't help but notice that his cracked baseball bat was blurred and his facial expression showed nothing short of alarm.

_Well, wouldn't anyone_ else _be startled by a man who literally came from the sky?_ Ness reasoned and turned to the next page.

The next snapshot was of himself in the rickety old cabin he had wasted a good $7,500 on. And by the looks of the picture, Ness looked both miserable and angered.

He had actually forgotten about that cabin until right then.

The third photograph was of, once again, just himself, standing in front of a bike shop in Twoson. Nothing unusual, he only rode the bike once after purchasing it. It proved to be quite the useless item when its sluggish movement and impossible-to-steer handlebars. On top of that, even, he had more friends with him to collect the melodies, he couldn't exactly leave them behind with his bike, could he?

He flipped the the next page.

This time the photograph wasn't just of himself, but this time he was standing next to a girl the same age as himself. They were both standing in front of a brick building with a sign stating "CHAOS * THEATER" in bold, blue and green letters. Obviously, his companion looked startled with her pink teddy bear clutched tightly in her arms and her light blue eyes round with fright.

Just by looking at this picture, memories instantly washed over him like the crashing waves of an angered sea.

He remembered receiving the quite literal "Pencil Eraser" item from a clever boy named Apple Kid.  
He remembered fighting the Blue-Blue cults and getting a key.  
He remembered the click the lock made and afterward opening the rusty door that groaned when opened.  
He remembered the look of joy of his friend when she stepped outside of her prison...

The smile upon Paula's face when they went to the Runaway Five's concert when they were in town, and the glow in her eye whenever they won a fight...

But it wasn't always fun and games.

He remembered the first time Paula was effortlessly knocked aside by a Territorial Oak's exploding flames.  
He remembered when everyone was mushroomized at once and were throwing heated hits at random.  
He remembered getting trapped it a pit thanks to a horde of zombies in Threed.  
He remembered having to say farewell to Paula once their journey was done...

The departure still made the boy very sorrowful. He swore he could feel the grief claw at him like cats rubbed the wrong way, thankfully only on certain days.

Ness tightened his grip on the book and set it carefully onto the sofa's arm where he usually placed it, and closed his brown eyes tightly, hoping the sadness wouldn't overcome him.

And then, of course, the boy heard the sound footsteps creaking down the stairs.

_Any _other _time would've been fine..._ Ness said to himself as he forced his eyes open.

"Ness?" a young girl's voice sounded from the bottom of the stairs. Tracy began to advance toward him, "Do you know where King is?"

"I think he's outside. Why don't you go too, Tracy?" Ness responded curtly, wanting to be left alone.

"No, that can't be right," Tracy reasoned, "King never goes outside unless somebody's with him."

Ness struggled to keep up with the pain welling up inside of him, so he didn't answer. But Tracy continued to keep her gaze on him as Ness closed his eyes even tighter.

"... So you _don't_ know where he is, then?"

Ness looked up at his younger sister.

"Why don't you go outside and play with Picky?" he suggested calmly.

"But Picky-" Tracy was cut off.

"Please just go." Ness pleaded quietly.

Tracey, knowing that this was sincere and somewhat of a plea, walked towards the brown, wooden door without complaint, opened it slowly, and looked back at her brother.

"Bye, then."

Ness waved back and smiled weakly as she swung the door gently behind her and it closed with a soft 'click'.

The boy tried to recollect his thoughts as he stared blankly at a wall, he wasn't _this _upset when Jeff and Poo left, so why act up like this when he said goodbye to Paula? She was clearly an excellent friend as well as a fighter, but the others were also great to him...

So what made Paula so special?

Was it her ability to put so much faith into humanity as to pray for help to them while fighting Giygas?  
Was it just that she could use any old Frying Pan as a lethal weapon?  
... Was it just _him_?

And then it him.

_"Ness, thank you for escorting me home."_  
Blue eyes met brown, but then they quickly dove for the girl's shoes.  
_"I wanted to tell you something, but I forgot what it was..." _She mumbled.

He replayed the thought in his head a couple more times.

Paula rarely said anything not worth anyone's time and she was anything but forgetful.

Was it important? If it was, how could she possibly forget?

Thinking for a moment longer, realization struck upon his head like a well-aimed strike of a baseball bat.

_Did she try to tell me that...? _Ness's facial expression brightened but so quickly that it was almost comical.

_I hope I'm right about this..._

The boy practically leapt up off of the couch and headed cheerfully to the door, thrusting his red and blue hat onto his head as he swung open the door.

The tone of the day seemed to match Ness's new found, upbeat spirit. The sun shined brightly upon the housetops and casted shadows upon the trees and fences behind them.

Ness grinned as he pulled his baseball bat to his side.

_Tracey will be fine by herself for a little while, won't she?_

So the young hero bounded from the porch of his white house and began to run as fast as he could-

And hit a tree, causing soot to coat his entire body.

_Well, it looks like I'm walking for a while, then. _He thought to himself as he began to head south to the busy part of Onett.

As he walked, he brushed the black soot from his blue and yellow polo shirt and his face. Ness eventually found a much more open space to perform PK Teleport in. In as much time as it takes to snap your fingers, Ness had vanished.

And with his shirt and face still bearing the remains of the ashes, he was headed for Twoson.

* * *

**Terrible? Okay? Dare I say _good_?  
Please tell me in a review, like I said earlier!**


	2. Chapter Two

**Finally, after months of discontinuation, I pulled myself back to this story!  
I'm so sorry about the two chapters being so spaced apart!**

* * *

Skidding to a halt, Ness successfully landed (somewhat) near his destination. Though, do to his lack of concentration, he had also flawlessly burned the soles of his shoes out of existence. He was considering teleporting to the preschool where Paula lived, but he didn't want to risk burning his shoes off entirely.

The sounds of ghosts echoed eerily behind him. He had nothing to fear, as he knew. Those ghosts never set off outside of the tunnel that lead to Threed. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glance at a silvery figure, red beady eyes seemed to be glaring right through him. He was used to that too, of course.

Though he had more than enough psychic energy left, he'd decided to walk, even knowing that the gravel from the paved road would painfully stab at his exposed skin with every step. And despite the walk across the city he had before him, he felt full of energy. Even the wind seemed to be pushing him forward.

It seemed that only the nervousness forming inside of him was the only thing preventing him from running at full sprint to Paula's house.

His upbeat steps had grown a bit lethargic and unenthusiastic.

It was already long road, but the drawn-out pace he kept was making the trip seem like an even greater distance. After awhile, he found out what was slowing him down- his mind.

Stopping dead in his tracks, Ness contemplated about just _what _he was about to do.

_Well, what could go wrong? _he asked himself for the first time. And surprisingly, several things came to mind.

_She could say 'no', for starters. _he knew this from the start, _But... if that happened, that _might _ruin our fr__iendship, and then..._

He pivoted 90 degrees on the pavement. _Should I turn back now, or keep going?_

After a few moments of thought, Ness tensely traveled up the road that lead closer and closer to the heart of Twoson. This time, he didn't let himself stall even with the pessimistic thoughts that clouded his mind.

The trees and grasses now rolled by faster, and the rocks poking at his bare skin were hardly noticeable. With every step, he quickened until he bounded along the road.

When he saw buildings creep up over the horizon he knew that there was no turning back now. No time to think, no time for second thoughts.

A running ribbon of blue water now ran by the paved path that Ness had been traveling. The grasses around the river were both much longer and greener than the short lawns of Onett back home.

He then caught sight of it- Polestar Preschool. And thankfully, since it was a schoolday, no one was outside. Ness tried to clear the bad thoughts from his mind now more than ever, just in case he said something stupid. The uneasy boy approached the premise and stood behind the school's bordering wooden fence. As usual, bright flowers were scattered all around the lawn and a bench rested next to the door. The green roof looked as deep as the river that bordered some of Twoson from the beside it.

Golden wings whisked by the boy's brown eyes, skimming his face. Out of habit, Ness made a lunge for the creature that was all too familiar to him. Trapping it in his cupped hands, he took a deep breath and released it. As usual the glowing insect hovered above his head for only a moment, and vanished. Calming sense now took the place of his growling anxiety, and though it still remained, he ignored it.

"Mrrow?"

The new voice made Ness jump a couple feet. Looking down, he saw a cat he had never before in his _life _seen conscious.

The cat had jet black fur, but a snow-white head. Ness had only seen it resting on the Preschool's roof every time he came by.

The feline studied Ness for a moment and took a long look at his face. An act of intimidation, the boy reasoned. So he began to decode the cat's thoughts.

_"You're the one who saved Paula, yes?" _

The large feline's voice was neither feminine nor masculine. It puzzled Ness to no end, but he politely nodded.

_"Thank you. This place is always lonely without her around..."_

The cat dipped its white head down in a bow and glanced back up at Ness once again.

_"The little ones are going to come outside and play very soon, so I must get back to my 'lookout position' on the roof." _

"Alright, then."

_"I'll be seeing you around, I hope?"_

"I guess so."

The semi-mouser began to step back towards the home and school where Paula lived but then turned around one last time. Its tail now lashed back and forth.

_"Whatever you're about to do, let me remind you that Paula is a kind human, and takes her allies seriously. Good luck, my friend."_

Blinking at Ness, the cat turned back around and made a dash for the preschool's west wall.

And just like the cat said, the door of the school creaked open. A flood of children gushed from the opening, like water spilling from a broken dam.

Looking back up at the roof, the boy saw the cat he had just spoken to. Sound asleep as usual.

"Domino!" a familiar voice called from the doorway, "Domino, get down here!"

Instantly, the boy recognized the voice. His eyes darted back down to the Preschool's entrance. Standing there was a girl with shoulder-length blond hair with blue eyes. A ribbon tied some of her hair back, it also matched the familiar pink dress she was worn every day on their journey not so long ago. Paula.

Her blue eyes didn't catch sight of Ness, but were instead fixed on the roof of her home.

"Silly cat," she mumbled, lowering her gaze, "Looks like someone's missing lunch!"

She looked straight forward to seek out any children who seemed to be wandering off, but instead of finding a wandering kid, her eyes locked onto Ness who gave a nervous wave. A bit startled, she blinked twice before acknowledging him.

"Hey, Ness!" she gave a wave back, "What brings you here?"

She began her way across the white stone path to the house entrance, wading through the pack of playing children as she walked. Ness' stomach began to churn once again, and he forgot to answer.

Now in front of him, Paula looked worriedly at the boy.

"Hello, Ness?" The boy still remained speechless and thoughts distant. "Earth to Ness!"

Ness, now snapped out of his daze, gave an answer.

"Oh, hi! How's it been?" He wanted to kick himself for his reply, due to the fact that it had nothing to do with his question.

"Oh, good. The kids at the preschool have been behaving very well since I came back. How have you been?"

"I'm fine, too. King's still a scaredy-cat, though."

Paula gave a chuckle at the comment. Though she had never really me King, she had heard stories back when they were traveling.

"Same old dog, then?"

"Yeah. Same old, same old."

A long uncomfortable silence laced the air between the two, and before they knew it the children were being herded back inside by Paula's mother.

"Listen, maybe we could talk later? I have to go back in and help mom with the kids..."

"No, wait. Please."

Paula's mom signaled her to go back inside. The blond haired girl glanced back at Ness for a moment.

"_Please_?" he asked urgently.

"Five minutes, Mom!" Paula hollered back to her mother, who nodded. The door clicked shut once again.

"So, what is it, Ness?" she asked, slightly irritated. This made Ness lose even more of his nerve.

"Oh..." Ness started quietly, unlike his usual self, "Well... I wanted to tell you something, but I forgot what it was..." The color of his face changed into a deep pink color.

Paula looked at him for a little bit and concentrated on his forehead. Ness stiffened, not sure about why she was doing this.

"Ness?" she said after a while.

"Y-yeah?" he stumbled.

"You do realize that I can read your mind, right?"

He blushed a deeper red. He completely forgot about that.

Paula began to step a bit closer to the boy, making Ness' heart race faster than an Exit Mouse eating a Skip Sandwich.

"I like you, too." she whispered, pulling him in to a hug.

After a moment of shock, Ness began to hold her, too.

It was far better than he ever expected from even his own dreams.

* * *

**I know, I know... They didn't kiss, but they're thirteen in my headcanon. So sorry if you were reading this for that.**

**Also, I added that cat in just for the sake of putting it in. Sorry, also, if you didn't like that segment either.**

**Again, first fic of this genre, so tell me how I did!**

**That'd be so nice of you, but be gentle if you didn't like it. Wimpy, yes. But I am a bit unsure of this piece...**


End file.
